Chapter 244: That's How We Doctors Do Things

"My Lord Admiral, I feel I need a more challenging assignment."

Inside the captain's cabin.

Beppo blinked a pair of pitch-black small eyes, looking at Gao Wen with a straight face and an untroubled heart, while the only thing betraying him was the bear paw trembling constantly behind his back.

He had truly never seen a scene like that just now.

What decent navigator can punch someone into a mid-air two-and-a-half rotation and then turn them into a pig's head within two seconds?!

This is ghostly!

Something is wrong; the navigator on this ship is ten percent wrong, or even ninety percent wrong!

Gao Wen was somewhat confused:

"Uh..."

Beppo only thought Gao Wen was dissatisfied with his presumptuous request, and instinctively wanted to bow his head and apologize.

But the moment he recalled the scene he had witnessed in front of the navigator's office, he couldn't help but shiver, forcibly controlling his instinct, and explained:

"I... I think Chopper would be great."

"That's right, Doctor Chopper!"

Beppo's eyes suddenly lit up.

Excluding cases like Law, who is both a captain and a ship doctor, in most cases, the ship doctor is the weakest combatant on a ship and the one most heavily protected.

Having previously assisted Law, he figured there should be no problem serving as Chopper's deputy.

Furthermore, Chopper's cute and adorable appearance, which clearly looks like it needs protection, makes it impossible for him to be some hot-blooded battle maniac.

Following him meant he wouldn't have to go to the front lines to fight, could stay in the deep rear, work on this warship, build up favor with the Marines for Law, and get a shorter sentence in the future.

I am simply a genius!

Beppo couldn't help but nod to himself in admiration of his own wit; seeing Gao Wen's lack of reaction, he patted his chest and volunteered:

"My Lord Admiral, you know, Law is also a ship doctor, even one of the top ship doctors in this sea."

"Once he returns, to better become his deputy, I feel that learning medicine-related skills is absolutely necessary."

"Besides."

"I also know that since I was once a pirate, rashly letting me handle matters related to navigation might carry a risk of leaking secrets."

"I must avoid suspicion."

"Don't you agree?!"

Gao Wen looked at Beppo with a strange expression.

In the original story, after the Straw Hats and Law formed an alliance, Chopper and Beppo, both positioned as the ship's cute mascots, became extremely close.

During the subsequent battle between the Heart Pirates and Blackbeard,

Beppo had swallowed a secret medicine gifted to him by Chopper, which could forcibly activate the Mink Tribe's Sulong form, and only then managed to escape with the heavily injured Law.

In that battle, the power unleashed by Beppo in Sulong form could only be described as absurd.

Keep in mind that Beppo was facing a Blackbeard Pirates crew that was nearly fully developed, approaching the late stage.

Officers like Van Augur and Basil Hawkins were almost at the level of jumping straight to the Golden Age, not to mention Blackbeard himself, who had already firmly secured his position as one of the Four Emperors and was not weak even among Emperor-level fighters after the power of his dual Devil Fruits was added.

Yet Beppo could endure the cost of severe injury to himself, briefly hold off the entire Blackbeard Pirates crew, and even escape with Law.

Judging by this alone, Beppo, as a navigator, if he could fully master the power of the Mink Tribe, would at the very least possess the standard of a Warlord of the Sea.

Capable of fighting, capable of navigating, and a king of cost-performance that doesn't lose to Chopper?

Indeed, the mascots in One Piece are all monsters!

Thinking of this, Gao Wen suddenly felt that even if he couldn't recruit Law in the future, acquiring Beppo would still be a good choice.

It's just that the two are basically sold as a bundle, with basically no possibility of separating them.

Fortunately.

Whether a navigator or a ship doctor, there isn't much difference, so Gao Wen nodded and said:

"In that case, then you go assist Chopper."

"By the way."

Recalling the situation after Chopper joined the ship, where under the influence of a group of workaholics, his train of thought gradually went off track and his style gradually evolved towards a muscular hunk.

Gao Wen's mouth twitched, and he couldn't help but remind him:

"You go assist Chopper; if he says anything strange, just listen but don't take it seriously."

"Strange words?"

Beppo was slightly stunned, then smiled and waved his hand:

"No, no, how could Doctor Chopper, such a cute existence, say anything like that?!"

"You..."

Before Gao Wen could open his mouth, he saw Beppo rush out the door in a hurry, looking entirely as if he feared Gao Wen would change his mind.

"Truly..."

Gao Wen shook his head and then turned his attention to the matter at hand.

After everyone disguised themselves as Marines, the journey was smooth sailing; not a single pirate crew dared to provoke Gao Wen's frown.

After all, this is the Grand Line; pirate crews that can thrive here have good judgment, and a warship with a strange design often represents the Marine high command.

And the ports along the way opened their arms to them because Gao Wen and the others, though not officially upright, had faces that were more than upright.

I must say.

Sometimes, using one's face is indeed much more useful than using certificates.

Speaking of using one's face, the first thing that popped into Gao Wen's mind, aside from Shanks who possesses the bloodline of a Celestial Dragon, was only one woman.

A woman who was extremely beautiful, extremely arrogant, but whose brain was, to some extent, a bit problematic.

The Pirate Empress—Boa Hancock.

This woman, with just her face alone, could make every man in the world, and even women, fall head over heels for her; coupled with the Mero Mero no Mi's ability, which was nothing short of a bug.

Even figures at the level of the Four Emperors, once forcibly controlled by her, would in all likelihood have no path but to await death.

Among the Paramecia types, there are many abilities that possess hard crowd-control effects.

Sugar's Hobby Hobby no Mi and Death God Q's Shiro Shiro no Mi are both outstanding examples among them, yet both of these can be countered through powerful Haki.

But Hancock's Mero Mero no Mi was an exception.

Those turned to stone had already lost their self-awareness; naturally, it was impossible for them to forcibly break free using Haki.

What was even more nauseating was that those struck by the ability could not even be released by the next user of the fruit.

It was simply fucking ridiculous beyond all measure.

An ability of this sort, offering unstoppable area-of-effect crowd control, was essentially already a strategic-level weapon.

It was no wonder that just as soon as Hancock was first issued a bounty, the World Government directly invited her to serve as one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea.

After the Seven Warlords system was abolished, they immediately placed an astronomical bounty of 1.6 billion Berries on Hancock's head.

Keep in mind that when Luffy was first called the Fifth Emperor, his bounty was only 1.5 billion; this alone was enough to show that the World Government's level of regard for her far exceeded that for ordinary Seven Warlords.

"Speaking of which, the Empress is also a wielder of Conqueror's Haki, but truly trying to recruit this woman into the crew is rather unrealistic."

Gao Wen shook his head, then drew his attention back to the newspaper in his hands.

As for Hancock's Conqueror's Haki, he naturally coveted it, but actually recruiting her into the party would only bring more trouble; given that woman's personality, it would most likely be like inviting a father figure aboard.

Gao Wen was not Sanji; he couldn't do any of that simpering, so surely he wasn't expected to hope she would throw herself at him?!

……

On the other end.

After leaving Gao Wen's office, Bepo prepared to return directly to Chopper's infirmary.

"Vice Admiral Lancelot is truly a good person; even for such an impertinent request, he did not reprimand me."

Bepo reached up and touched his head, feeling somewhat embarrassed in his heart.

He then cast the matter out of his mind and quickened his pace toward the infirmary, but at that moment, a series of shouts entered Bepo's ears.

"Hoo!"

"Ha!"

"Get stronger! Get stronger! Get stronger!"

"This level is still far, far from my limit!"

"Only by becoming stronger can I bring the instructor back!"

……

Bepo's ears twitched, and he curiously walked toward the source of the sound.

Very soon.

Bepo saw clearly everything on the deck.

Under the scorching sun, everyone on the ship was now immersed in training.

Sweat sprayed forth.

It had even congealed on the deck into a layer of snowy-white stains.

In the center stood a figure, approximately five meters tall, covered entirely in brown fur, with knotted muscles; merely its forearm was thicker than Bepo's entire body.

That figure was holding a steel barbell with a diameter exceeding five meters, performing squats at a pace resembling fast-forward.

From Bepo's vantage point, he could even see the bulging veins on the other's arms and the sweat seeping from its head.

What the hell is this thing?

Bepo rubbed his eyes with his hand, feeling that the more he looked at that figure, the more familiar it seemed.

When his gaze landed on the pink hat atop the other's head, Bepo suddenly shivered violently:

"That's... Doctor Chopper's hat?!"

"No, no, no, no; it's an illusion, it must be an illusion; Doctor Chopper is so cute, how could he possibly turn into this ghostly appearance?"

"It must be some other Mink on this ship, or perhaps even a member of Chopper's own race; after all, the difference in appearance between the two is so vast, it absolutely cannot be the same person!"

"Hoo~"

Bepo let out a long breath.

When he was first assigned by Gao Wen to serve as the navigator's assistant, he had felt a bit secretly delighted; after all, most of the time navigators were rear-echelon positions, not required to fight on the front lines.

Even later, when he requested Gao Wen to transfer him to become the doctor's assistant, he had harbored the same intention; how could someone as cute as Chopper possibly engage in any of that fighting and killing?

Besides, isn't the duty of a ship's doctor simply to treat illnesses and save lives?

Uh... except for that guy Law.

Bepo told himself in his heart that he had worried for nothing, yet that slight sense of ominous foreboding grew increasingly intense at this moment.

Could that really be Chopper?!

He withdrew his gaze and quickened his pace toward the infirmary.

All along the way.

The towering figure he had accidentally glimpsed earlier lingered in Bepo's mind, to the point that his focus became somewhat scattered.

Suddenly.

Bang!

Bepo felt as though he had collided with a piece of granite wrapped in cotton wool.

He subconsciously lifted his head, only to discover in shock that the towering figure he had seen on the deck earlier was now standing before the door of the infirmary, looking at him with a smile:

"Yo, Bepo, I've already received the captain's notification."

"From today onward, you are a member of the ship's infirmary; let me tell you about the things we need to pay attention to here."

Bepo subconsciously stepped back several paces before he could clearly see the giant man's entire body.

With muscles brimming with overwhelming impact and a face that grew increasingly ferocious the more he smiled, he simply could not connect this giant before him with Chopper.

What the hell!

This thing's specialty is definitely not healing the sick and saving lives, but rather charging into crowds and unleashing carnage, right?!

I chose to join the ship's infirmary specifically to avoid frontline combat, and now you're telling me Chopper's other side is some kind of devil made of steel and flesh?!

Recalling the image of himself following Chopper in the future, slaughtering wildly through crowds, Bepo found it somewhat hard to accept for a moment.

Fine, let that slide.

But why is the ship's doctor on this vessel also like this? Is there even a single proper doctor left in this world?!

"You... you... you... don't come over here!"

Seeing Bepo's terrified expression, Chopper looked down at his current posture, realized what was happening, and opened his mouth to explain:

"I am a reindeer who ate the Human-Human Fruit; what you just saw was my training posture."

Accompanying his words, Chopper's body began to shrink, returning to his tiny form within a few breaths, his voice no longer as rough as before.

"After all, as you know, for a doctor, a robust physique and strength surpassing everyone else are both essential."

Seeing this, Bepo let out a long sigh of relief, but after calming down and recalling Chopper's words, the corner of his mouth twitched:

"Do you even hear the nonsense coming out of your own mouth?!"

"Since when is being strong and healthy the primary duty of a ship's doctor? Shouldn't it all be about healing the sick and saving lives?!"

Looking at Chopper before him and then thinking of Law, Bepo suddenly realized that the ship's doctors he had encountered seemed to include not a single so-called normal person...

What the hell!

"No! No! No!"

The corner of Chopper's mouth curled up as he wagged a finger, a flame seemingly burning in his eyes:

"Medical skills and medicine have their limits; when facing overly severe injuries or illnesses, there is limited a doctor can do, and often times, they are powerless."

"Is that not so?"

Bepo was stunned, subconsciously nodding his head:

"That is correct."

"Therefore, relying solely on medical skills, what a doctor can accomplish is always limited, is it not?!"

"That is also correct."

"Thus, relying solely on medical skills, one cannot become a panacea capable of curing all diseases."

Bepo nodded, one hand rubbing his chin in a contemplative pose:

"You are right; even that guy Law is often powerless when facing severe illnesses."

Seeing this, Chopper smiled confidently and said:

"Therefore, Bepo, medical skills have limits!"

"To truly become a panacea capable of curing all diseases, we must only open our minds and broaden our horizons."

"The identity of a doctor should be our goal, not our shackle; since medical skills have limits, we must learn to solve problems at their root."

"Solve problems at their root?"

Bepo inexplicably felt something was off, yet he could not pinpoint exactly where.

Chopper continued:

"As long as no comrades are injured in battle, isn't that equivalent to us having cured the fatal wounds they might have otherwise suffered?"

"As long as we eliminate all enemies before our comrades get hurt, then I am the panacea capable of curing all pain."

"Eradicating all unstable factors and eliminating all hidden dangers of injury or poisoning—this is the ultimate medical art!"

"Wait, let me digest this."

Bepo reached up and scratched his scalp.

Something's off!

Extremely, nine parts out of ten, something is off!

This line of thinking is definitely problematic, but... but seemingly, the logic holds up.

Bepo opened his mouth, instinctively wanting to refute, yet not a single word came out.

Chopper patted Bepo's thigh, adopting an earnest and heartfelt demeanor, and said:

"In my view, whether it is a ship's doctor or a navigator, their essence is the same."

"Wait... navigators are like this too?!"

"Of course."

Chopper nodded heavily:

"Let me ask you, what is a navigator's duty?!"

Faced with Chopper's sudden question, Bepo suddenly felt somewhat unconfident:

"Formulating reasonable routes, predicting possible climate changes, and helping the pirate crew avoid dangers on the sea?!"

"Mediocre!"

Chopper shook his head, revealing a look of disappointment:

"Too mediocre!"

(End of Chapter)